Today’s catalogue is titled “20 Women” showcasing a variety of women artists who originated from the pre & post-war periods. They emerged from a few select movements including the American Abstract Artist Group of modernists, the Abstract Expressionists and the group of Color Field painters that followed. These artists have also been overlooked and undervalued compared with their male counterparts. In the past the challenges they faced due to gender has created huge barriers in education, training and representation.
We have dealt with women artists for as long as I’ve been an art dealer! I have always found that women seemed to be freer with their creative attitudes and observations trusting their inner curiosity, intuition and following their instincts.
We just acquired a large 1970 six by six-foot Color Field work by Vivian Springford. In the past few years her paintings have been re-discovered. Last year she was named as one of the top five hottest artists to emerge onto the global art market. Her prices are constantly setting records which will undoubtedly continue as to the rarity of her work.
In our digital catalogue you will see a large 1958 divisionist work by Lynne Drexler along with a small gem from 1959, a large 1956 canvas by Janice Biala exhibited at the Stable Gallery’s annual exhibition in 1957, a large watercolor by Alma Thomas from 1959, undoubtedly the most important Black American woman painter and a colorful rare 1960 26 x 26-inch collage by Grace Hartigan.
We recently purchased a large 1965 Color Field canvas by Texas native Dorothy Hood. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in the early 1930’s which was unheard of back then and in 1990 RISD awarded her an honorary doctorate degree. From 1940 until 1961 Hood lived in Mexico and was part of the now famous artistic community with the likes of Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Leonora Carrington, Luis Bunuel and Rufino Tamayo. In my opinion, Dorothy Hood is the woman to watch out for as she was way ahead of most of her contemporary’s in so many artistic and worldly manners!
In addition, we are spotlighting a work by Irene Rice Pereira titled “Reign of Fire”,
A vibrant Color Field work by Wolf Kahn’s wife Emily Mason who was also the daughter of Alice Trumbull Mason, a founding member of the American Abstract Artist Group, works by Milton Avery’s wife and daughter Sally and March and two oil stick and graphite works by Mary Abbott from the 1950’s.
This core group of women never gave in and rose above the gender bias by creating and influencing future generations of women artists. Our catalogue honors twenty women artists for who they were and respect each of their contributions to the history of art.